


A Helping Hand

by bi_nocturnal_g



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: After Holidays Prompt Fest 2011, Babysitting, Community: stevedannoslash, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, One Shot, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-29
Updated: 2015-04-29
Packaged: 2018-03-26 08:52:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3844771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bi_nocturnal_g/pseuds/bi_nocturnal_g
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I trust you and your extensive SEAL training that you’ll be able to manage babysitting a completely innocent 8-year old girl.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Babysitting Grace

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the [info]stevedannoslash 's After Holidays Prompt Fest 2011 I want to thank iluvbadmovies for being such a great help by organizing my chaotic mind. Without her I would have never gotten this done properly. This story is finished, and all other mistakes are mine. 
> 
> #41 Steve has to protect Grace from some sort of threat, be it someone with a grudge against him or Danny, a natural disaster, or simply a school bully. The threat is unimportant - what matters is Steve realizing exactly how much he cares for Grace and the lengths he'll go to protect her. Obviously, all of this stems from him being in love with Danno

Steve blinks his eyes but the scene in front of him doesn’t change. Grace is still sitting right there on his couch, looking at ease, with limbs loose and relaxed, her tiny frame ensconced on against the pillows, head cocked to the side as she watches Steve watch her. She looks nice and sweet, faintly smelling of strawberries, shiny hair neatly arranged in two pigtails and wearing a yellow sun dress. In other words she looks as cute as ever. Except for the fact she was on his couch. At 8 o’clock in the morning.

Not that he doesn’t want Grace on his couch, because Grace is great and he loves having her around. He just doesn’t understand why she’s here. The last thing he expected this morning was to find Danny and Grace sitting on his lanai when he came back from his morning swim.

Danny had told him something, probably an explanation with explicit details about the reason why he was leaving Grace with Steve, but he was too mesmerized by the way Danny’s hair shone burnished copper in the light of the sun to listen. There had been major hand waving and gesturing involved and Danny’s mouth was off and running leaving Steve in the dust. Steve tried to focus, he really did, but it was hard because once he set eyes on Danny’s mouth he was a goner. All he could think of was the many creative and dirty things that mouth could do to him.

Suddenly the sound of an engine starting brought Steve out of his thoughts and back to the task at hand. He ran toward the door, throwing a haphazard “Stay here!” at Grace, intent on reaching his partner before he got away.

The annoying screech the car makes when Danny abruptly hits the brakes sounds loudly in the otherwise peaceful street as Steve skids to a halt in front of it, right at the moment his partner is about to exit his drive way. His hands are braced against the hood of the Camaro and he can feel the thrum of the engine racing from his arms through his body. The adrenaline is racing through his body and making it hard for him to focus on what his partner is yelling at him. At the moment it’s not important what Danny is screaming at him. What’s more important is trying to understand the how and why Grace is perched on his couch.

“For fucks sake, Steve, are you out of your mind? Do you think I have the time to point out to you that jumping in front of a moving vehicle is not normal human behavior? Stop! Don’t open your mouth while I’m still talking because the answer is obvious, Steven. The answer is a big fat NO. I’m already late as it is for my appointment with the doctor, I can not deal with your break down right now. It’s just for a couple of hours. I trust you and your extensive SEAL training that you’ll be able to manage babysitting a completely innocent 8-year old girl. My baby girl to be exact, you know like this short, with long brown hair and the face of an angel, goes by the name of Grace? That rings any bells to you?”

All through the rant Steve nodded dumbly letting Danny’s voice drift over him. Which apparently is a mistake but unfortunately he realizes it too late as Danny takes Steve’s nods as a signal of consent to leave Grace with Steve and then he’s driving away.

Danny knows how he is with kids; this is going to be bad, he can feel it in his bones. It’s one thing to spend some time with Grace; it’s a whole different ball game when he has to do it without Danny acting as buffer.

With leaden feet he trudges back to his house. Just before he reaches the front door he takes a fortifying breath and steels his nerves, mind repeating the most important part of Danny’s furious ranting, “I trust you. I trust you. I trust you.”

Steve knows Danny trusts him. They never needed to say the words. You can’t have a successful relationship of any kind without trust between partners; in their line of work that’s just suicidal. But to have Danny say it now and in reference to Grace is profound.

Steve knows how much Grace means to Danny. She’s his light. The man followed her all the way to Hawaii, even though he hates it with a passion, just to be close to her. He’d go to the end of the universe and back for her if that was possible. He won’t let anything happen to Grace while she’s with him. The little Williams is fast becoming someone special to him and if Steve’s honest with himself she’s not the only one he considers special in his life.

Grace is still sitting quietly on his couch, this time with legs kicking back and forth. His smile comes out more like a grimace and he fumbles for a moment on what to say before remembering he’s still wet from his morning swim.

“Did you bring your swimming gear with you Grace?” Steve asks and when Grace nods he takes her up stairs to the bathroom to change. He waits diligently in front of the bathroom door as Grace gets into her bathing suit and when she’s finished he takes her back down to the living room and parks her back on the couch.

“I’m just going to get something from upstairs and then we can head on back to, uh, the beach.”

Steve realizes he’s babbling but he can’t help himself, he’s nervous for some undeniable reason even though it’s crazy because this is Grace. It’s Grace: young and innocent and completely harmless. Unless she’s smiling at him in the same way her father does like she’s doing at the moment. It’s this tiny genuine smile, a complete mirror of Danno’s smile; that lets him know that he said something good and makes his insides clench at the sight of it for reasons he still doesn’t want to admit to himself.

Grace beams up at him and giving him an excited “Okay,” and he breathes a sigh of relief when his offer isn’t immediately shut down. He switches the tv on and zaps through the channels until he finds the Disney Channel. Then he’s taking the steps two at a time. In less than five minutes he has found what he was looking for in his old room. Clutching the tiny red pail and matching shovel he bounds back downstairs, making a quick pit stop to the linen closet for a big blanket for them to sit on.

Grace giggles at something on the screen and Steve watches mesmerized as sunlight brushes against her silky brown locks, it creates a halo around the young girl’s head, and making her look every bit the angel his partner makes her out to be. Steve shakes his head and laughs under his breath. This is Grace he tells himself. He knows her, there’s nothing to be afraid of. He’s a fool for thinking otherwise.

“Hey, Grace ready to go?” He calls out. “Yes, come on Steve!” Grace says excitedly before grabbing his hand without hesitation and dragging him out of the house. Steve is grinning despite himself. At least this Williams loves the prospect of spending the day at the beach.

He opens the screen door to the lanai and Grace races off. He calls out to Grace to wait for him at the deck chairs he has on the sand near the water front. The pail and shovel get dropped on the beach when he reaches her side. Grace is practically vibrating with excitement, looking ready to swim so Steve grasps Grace’s tiny hand and together they set off toward the ocean.

Steve’s heart is in his throat by the time he and Grace take a step into the water, all the dangers of the ocean leaping at him as he envisions Grace being struck down by a jellyfish or bitten by a shark and Danny is never going to trust him again with Grace and his life and _oh fuck this was a very bad idea_ he thinksbut a moment later he’s grinning foolishly at himself as Grace splashes expertly through the water, bobbing in and out of his sight like a dolphin. “It’s just a couple of hours. This will be a piece of cake,” he mumbles under his breath.

Laughter rings across the ocean and back as he gets over his fear and chases Grace round and round until they’ve exhausted themselves to the point where Steve has to wade through the water with Grace perched on his shoulders. When he reaches their spot he heaves a giggling Grace onto their blanket and watches as the little Williams scrambles up again, all traces of previous tiredness gone as she picks a spot to their right where she instantly digs down into the sand.

“I’m going to make a sandcastle. Come help, Stevo.”

Steve laughs as Grace accompanies her request, that’s more than a demand, with a couple of hand motions. She’s so like her father in that moment that it takes Steve’s breathe away. Danno’s going to have his hands full by the time Grace is old enough to date. He imagines she’s going to be the sweetheart of school, much to her Daddy’s consternation, already picturing the stunning young woman Grace is going to turn into.

He’s busily digging a moat around their almost sandcastle when his cell phone rings. Steve picks it absently up, his hand directing Grace to one of the drooping turrets, so he doesn’t know that Danny’s the one calling him until he hears the grumbling filling his ear.

Apparently the doctor wanted to examine his leg more thoroughly with a MRI scan just to be on the safe side since he noticed Danny limping more heavily. Danny is too embarrassed to say that he stubbed his foot on the way out of the car and by the time the doctor scheduled the MRI scan it was already too late to dissuade him so he just called Steve to say he’ll be gone for a couple of more hours and warns him not to pull any funny business around his daughter.

Steve rolls his eyes when he hears that, as if Steve actively searches for bad guys to bust. It’s not his fault that he has a knack for finding criminals. When there’s nothing more forthcoming from Danny’s side he passes the phone to Grace to say hello to her father.

Grace grabs it with both hands, practically vibrating with eagerness. She’s smiling as she recounts everything they’ve done so far. It doesn’t take long for Grace to finish with an “I love you Danno” before she hands his phone back.

Steve’s eyebrows hit his hairline when he makes note of the time. It’s two o’clock in the afternoon and they’ve been here for over 4 hours now. In all that time he hasn’t once thought about the job or the stack of paperwork that is still waiting for him come Monday morning barring any new cases that get thrown in their laps. He realizes that it’s all thanks to Grace. He’s having too much fun with Grace to think about anything else. He shakes his head, not quite believing that the time sped away from him.

Grace makes it easy by just being herself. Taking care of her is still down right terrifying but she easily sets him at ease. She’s sweet that way, trying to make Steve comfortable even though it should be the other way around. She gets that from Danny he thinks, remembering how his partner calmed down that boy in the elevator on their first case when they were chasing their suspect to the roof. Grace’s voice has that same calming quality Danny’s had that day. It’s soft, gentle and fond and Steve thinks that she’s going to be a great mom someday when she tries to comfort her own kids in her own little way.

“It’s okay Steve, I’m sure Danno’s going to be okay. You’ll see, he’ll be up and blowing things up with you in no time at all.”

Steve has the grace to blush a little with that. “He told you about that, didn’t he?” It wasn’t his fault that they usually ended the case in abandoned warehouses. How was he to know that their suspect was a crap shooter or that they were standing behind some crates filled with tanks of methane?

Gracie just laughs at him as if he just said something funny because of course Danny would tell Grace about that. His partner tells Grace everything, the majority of it starring Steve in some way or the other and there’s no way that his heart is palpitating at that thought because he’s not that pathetic. Really he isn’,t he tells himself because he’s a decorated Navy Seal and he should be above this. He’s not a twelve year old girl.

Feeling the conflicting emotions bubbling too close to the surface makes him self-conscious, making him wonder if Grace is able to see the deep feelings he has for her Dad, but when he looks toward Grace he sees her lost in thoughts. She’s probably worried too and he’s kicking himself for thinking about his own woes instead of Grace’s so he proposes for them to go downtown, hoping that the prospect of lunch gets her mind off of things.

“Come one Grace, let’s clean up and get dressed. Then I’m taking you to a place downtown where they serve the best pancakes. What do you say?” Steve’s eyebrows wiggled playfully at Grace, making her giggle out loud.

“I love pancakes.” A big smile lights up Grace’s whole face and she dusts off the sand on her knees before following after Steve’s retreating form.

“Me too, Grace. And if Danny isn’t done by the time we’re finished with lunch then we’ll go visit him at the hospital.”

“That’s a great idea, Steve.” Grace says before climbing the stairs to the first floor once they get inside. It doesn’t take them long for them to wash the ocean and sand off and get into clean clothes. In the hallway Steve gathers all of Grace’s things, handing the pink backpack to her when he locks the door right behind them.

He eyes the garage, thinking about the finished Marquis before shaking his head and crosses over to his red truck, Grace trailing dutifully behind. He wants this day to be perfect and since he hasn’t taken the car for a test drive yet he doesn’t want to take the chance of them being stuck in the middle of nowhere in the off chance the engine fails.

He opens the door to his truck and boosts Grace gently on the seat, setting the pink backpack neatly beside her. After strapping her in, he flicks the child safety on the passenger door and firmly closes it. He walks around the truck and slips inside, revving the engine up and coaxing a giggle out of Grace before driving off.The click of her seat belt catches his attention when they’ve reached the end of the street.

“What are you doing, Gracie?”

They’re at a stop sign with no traffic behind them so Steve waits as Grace pulls the seatbelt off and sidles all the way from the door to his side of the cab. “I want to sit next to you.” Grace replies as her small frame plasters itself to the right side of his body. He congratulates himself for not tensing up and adjusts his position to accommodate the little monkey clinging to him.

He grins goofily at the fuzzy feeling that envelops him when he feels Grace relaxes boneless against him. He helps her back into the seatbelt that’s located in the middle of the cab, making a mental note to make time to buy a booster seat so that the next time they take the truck it’s child safe for her. He’s sure with every fiber of his body that there’s going to be a next time. There’s not a single bone in his body that says otherwise.

It doesn’t matter if the next time is with Danny or not, though of course he prefers it, but now that he’s more confident in himself he won’t say no to another round of babysitting when Danny asks him again in the future. He likes Grace’s company regardless of if his partner is around because she’s fun to be with and he likes spending the time getting to know her. He likes the one on one Danny has granted him with Grace, slowly building a relationship with her in the same way he’s building his own with Danny’s, without the violence, guns and explosions.

Now that he’s starting to warm up to it, he’s actually grateful for Danny’s request to baby sit Grace. This is the perfect way for him to gauge Grace’s reaction about him. He can clearly see that Grace is happy but sometimes she looks sad and droopy around him and he still has no clue why. There have also been times when he’s caught her contemplating something, mouth opening and closing but always stopping just before asking a question.

Steve can see that he still has a long way to go before Grace trusts him enough to speak up about what’s on her mind. He can wait, that’s not a problem for him, regardless of what Danny is always telling him he can be a pretty patient guy when the situation calls for it. And this one definitely does, because he wants this to be perfect. If he wants to have a shot at a life with Danny then he needs to have Grace on his side. It’s totally the wrong time and place to be thinking about it, but now that the thought entered his mind he can’t think about anything else.

It totally blindsided him but now it’s like he’s starting to wake up from a deep sleep and seeing the world for the first time. With all the death and destruction that he has to deal with on the job, spending the time with Danny and Grace is heaven sent. He can’t picture a moment in his life without either Danny or Grace in it. And he realizes that it’s time for him to stop lying to himself once and for all and just admit it. Just admit to himself that he’s madly in love with his partner.

It started with just liking the man because who wouldn’t like Danny? The guy’s smart, confident and loyal to a fault and Steve liked him from the start when he didn’t back down, even though they both knew that when it came down to it Steve **c** ould’ve taken him on without breaking a sweat, gun or no gun.

They’ve meshed beautifully together, completing one another in a way Steve never thought possible, to the point where he’s starting to think ties are cute and rants about proper procedure are a balm to his soul. He should’ve known that the tiny man crush he had on Danny would eventually blow up into love. The lingering touches and eye fucking didn’t much help either.

He’s in a purgatory of his own making, completely blindsided by the force of nature that is Danny Williams, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.


	2. At the end of the day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I trust you and your extensive SEAL training that you’ll be able to manage babysitting a completely innocent 8-year old girl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for the [info]stevedannoslash 's After Holidays Prompt Fest 2011 I want to thank iluvbadmovies for being such a great help by organizing my chaotic mind. Without her I would have never gotten this done properly. This story is finished, and all other mistakes are mine. 
> 
> #41 Steve has to protect Grace from some sort of threat, be it someone with a grudge against him or Danny, a natural disaster, or simply a school bully. The threat is unimportant - what matters is Steve realizing exactly how much he cares for Grace and the lengths he'll go to protect her. Obviously, all of this stems from him being in love with Danno

The pancakes were a big hit with Grace, judging by the delighted noises she was making as she practically inhaled them once she took her first bite. Steve had decided to take her to Liliha Bakery because in his opinion they make the most delicious pancakes ever made. The place had been too crowded for Steve’s taste, but it was worth his discomfort as he’d watched Grace’s wide eye fill with awe as the little girl took in their entire assortment of baked goods.

At Grace’s insistence he even went as far as buying two bags of malasadas for Danny, knowing that Danny’s going to be grateful since he’s been cooped up for most of the morning in the hospital. Not exactly a fun place to be. His heart goes out to him because Steve knows how much his partner hates having to go to the doctor and on top of it all he has to do it during the weekend that he has Grace. Danny already doesn’t have that much time with his daughter and the weekends belong to him and Grace alone, so it is a sure bet that Danny is going to be sad and a bit pissed that he’s spent most of Saturday away from Grace.

And even though Steve wants to spend the rest of the weekend with both Williams he knows that he can’t do that to Danny. He’ll want to use Sunday for just him and Grace, reconnecting with each other; and Steve can’t begrudge him that because Grace is Danny’s daughter and he’s already pushing it with these last couple of weeks by inviting himself to their outings.

It doesn’t matter that Grace is always happy to see him show up, and despite Danny’s grumbling he can see that his partner enjoys their time together too, exploring all that Hawaii has to offer, but in the end Steve’s the boss and he doesn’t want Danny to feel obliged to spend time off work with Steve. So Steve is just going to have to spend Sunday without the company of Danny and Grace. The mere thought is depressing but he’ll have to manage.

 

* * *

 

They’re on their way to the hospital having decided to surprise Danny with their presence since he’s still stuck there. He’s already gotten his MRI scan but Danny still has to wait for the results to come back. As they pass a convenience store Steve remembers that he’d meant to go shopping for drinks the other day but between the job and long hours they have been making, he never seemed to find the time to go to the store.

“The hospital’s the other way Steve.” Grace reminds him, eyes questioning him as he turned around at the roundabout, heading back where they came from. “I know, Gracie, I’m just remembered I forgot to buy something at the store.”

In just a couple of minutes they’re at the convenience store. Its midday and the place is deserted except for the bored looking cashier and one customer loitering at the back. It’s a typical convenience store, nothing extraordinary about it. Except Steve notices the only customer aside from them, a young man is standing at the back eyeing the counter. The teen is nervously scoping the place, eyes wide and dark switching rapidly from left to right and Steve’s suspicious by the odd behavior the teen is exhibiting.

When he sees the faint outline of a gun hidden in the waistband of the kid’s pants he tenses up. It’s clear as day what the kid’s intentions are. As much as he wants to bust the kid he has Grace to think about, so he forces his body to uncoil and tries to act normal, all thoughts of finding something to drink gone from his mind.

The first order of business for him is to get Grace to safety before anything happens. His second order of business is arresting the kid before he attempts his robbery, better to stop him before anything bad happens. First things first, Grace. His hands reach back to grasp Grace but shock fills him when he encounters only air and he whips his head around to find her missing from behind him. Dread fills him when he doesn’t see the girl near him. In his peripheral view he can see the teen still eyeing the cash register, one hand absentmindedly fondling the gun hidden beneath his clothes. The teen is standing in his line of view; with Steve’s height he can still see him when he steps forward into the first aisle at the front of the store. He walks all the way to the end of the aisle so that he’s diagonal from the boy. He tries to act normal as from there he navigates his way through the aisles toward the back looking for Grace.

He swears softly under his breath when he catches sight of her at the last aisle mere meters from the nervous looking teen. Earlier Steve was so focused on finding the right aisle that he didn’t notice Grace skipping to the magazine stands, a Free Surf magazine having caught her eye. How she got all the way to the back he’ll never know but he curses himself for not having kept track of her the entire time they’ve been here.

She’s standing at the magazines, head immersed in a surf magazine. The need to get her out of here before things get ugly is so strong in Steve he imagines he’ll burst at the seams. All he can think about is the million things that could go wrong with this situation if he doesn’t do something fast. If anything happens to her Danny will never forgive him, Steve wouldn’t forgive himself either.

Steve eyes the boy again, sees the way the boy holds himself, his lanky form slouched with head down as if he’s trying to be invisible. Steve can see the boy’s lips moving, possible giving himself a pep talk about the act he’s about the commit. It’s indecision that holds the teenager back, one hand playing with the seam at his waistband when he eyes the cash register and the door. He’s probably running scenarios through his mind, all the things that could go wrong and Steve takes a fortifying breath, a plan forming in his head.

He has a problem because dragging Grace back to the car without purchasing the drinks is going to seem suspicious. It would also alarm Grace that something was up and he didn’t want to take the chance of the boy being alerted by anything odd happening.

His only chance now is trying to dissuade the boy from his attempt of robbery. Pulling his gun is not an option and is to be considered a last resort, Danny has told him that enough times, he can’t risk a bullet ricocheting and accidentally hitting Grace, so he’s going to try to intimidate the boy into leaving the store, preferably without the gun.

He walks passed Grace, slowly making his way toward the young man, eyes alert and body tense ready for anything. Relief is pouring over him when he sees she’s still preoccupied with the magazine, and he begins to peruse the magazine standnext to her, trying to give the illusion that he’s looking for something interesting to read. The boy only has eyes for the register so it’s easy for Steve to stop approximately a meter away from him. At least now if something happens, like the boy pulling out his gun and shooting the place up, he’ll be in the line of fire.

His stare is intense,blue eyes darkened with determination as he turns his head to stare at the young man. When he speaks his voice has a dangerous quality to it, hard with anger and low but still loud enough to be picked up by the teen standing next to him.

“I know 372 ways to torture someone without killing them, each one more gruesome than the last, and that’s only with my bare hands” Steve bites out, startling the teen out of his thoughts. “Whatever you’re thinking of I suggest you stop and walk out now while you’re still able to.”

“What the fuck, brah?”

Steve can hear the quiver of fear in the young man’s voice. He’s already getting to him and Steve hasn’t even begun recounting all the gruesome injuries he’s able to inflict on a person. He figures it’s only a matter of time before the boy caves but since Grace is still standing too close for comfort he closes in on the boy, this time meaning business.

Being two heads taller than the kid and wearing what Danny would call his aneurism face makes him seem more intimidating; coupled with the anger he’s feeling about the entire situation he’s looks down right dangerous as he leans into the young man’s personal space. “What’s your name boy?”

“J-J-Jake Okana sir.” The boy stuttered out, head leaning back as Steve’s face closes in. Jake looks like a deer caught in headlights, sweat running down the side of his face as Steve stares him down. It’s pathetic really how quickly Steve is able to scare him.

“Here’s the deal. You’re going to hand over the gun that’s hidden beneath your clothes, and then you’re going to walk out of this store, without looking back. Don’t try anything, just walk away. You made one mistake, that’s okay; people make mistakes all the time. But don’t turn it into a habit and make another one.”

“Or else what?” Jake asks with false bravado, trying to act tough. Steve grins despite himself. The kid is spunky, he’ll give him that, but that’s not going to help him now. He claps Jake on the shoulder and slides his shirt up revealing his 5-0 badge strapped onto his belt. The gulp that Jake makes is audible with him standing so close to the teen. He ignores the whispered “Fuck you’re 5-0” coming from Jake and stretches his hand out, palm up.

“Trust me, Jake, you don’t want to find out.”

After that it doesn’t take much for Jake to deflate, the sight of Steve’s badge scaring the crap out of him. He slowly hands over the gun all the while profusely apologizing about the stupid act he was about to commit, promising he’ll never do it again. Steve raises his hand to silence him, the rapid speech grating on his nerves. He shifts his body so he’s able to conceal the exchange of the gun from Grace and motions the kid toward the door.

“Finish school, kid!” Steve orders before Jake turns tail and practically runs out of the store, Steve’s eyes boring hot as coals between his shoulder blades. It’s not until he hears an engine starting up, tires squealing, that he lets his muscles relax.

“You okay, Steve?”

Grace voice is soft and soothing to Steve ears and he has to take several deep calming breathes before he’s able to answer her. Awful images of what could have been dance behind his eyelids before he chases them away.

“Yeah, honey. I’m fine, just thinking about Danno.”

He waves off the worried glance Grace throws him, finds the drinks he meant to get in the first place before the whole mess with Jake happened and walks toward the cash register. And then they’re off to see Danny.

The drive toward the hospital is done in silence. Grace is busily reading the Surf Magazine Steve purchased for her to notice the way Steve’s gripping the wheel too tight for comfort. There’s a part of him that wants to bury this deep underground but Danny needs to know what happened today. He needs to know about how Steve fucked it all up by losing sight of Grace and placing her into that dangerous situation. If it wasn’t for him she’d never be in that convenience store in the first place. It was wrong of Danny to trust Steve with the care of his daughter. And he should be made aware of that fact.

He decides to wait until they’re back at his place before telling Danny, because he has no clue on where to start. Thank the Gods for Grace stealing all the attention away from him the moment Danny walks out of the hospital. She immediately latches on to Danny as she talks about all the things they’ve done today.

Steve doesn’t wait for Grace to climb into the Camaro, completely confident that Grace is going with Danny, before making his way toward his truck. Danny is standing next to his car, looking back at him quizzically, probably because Steve wasn’t acting normal by walking away instead of saying hello. He’s still deeply unsettled by the ordeal with Jake than he thought.

Steve can see the puzzlement in his eyes and Danny is seconds from opening his mouth, body already moving toward his truck but then he’s stopping in his tracks, backtracking to the car. Grace tiny voice is coming out of the back of the Camaro, making Danny climb into the driver’s seat to clearly hear her. She’s probably telling him to head to Steve so they could spend dinnertime there. He can see Danny’s head bobbing up and down and when minutes later his head turns in Steve’s direction, he’s hopes that his smile isn’t giving anything away.

From the very beginning Danny’s always been able to tell when something’s up just by looking at him. It’s damn unnerving and at times helpful during a dangerous situation but this time he can’t afford for Danny to find out, not until he gets his side of the story in. When Danny looks at him with this indescribable face Steve tenses up, but then Danny gives him a fond smile and waves his hand for Steve to go first. It’s not until he sees the Camaro driving behind him for Steve to breathe a sigh of relief. He’s in the clear for now.

All through the evening Steve had tried to act as normal as possible and he thought he’d done a marvelous job of it until Danny turned toward him on couch. He just returned from putting Grace to bed in the guest room, the little Williams wiped out for the day, and Steve swallows heavily at the swirling mass of emotion in Danny’s blue eyes.

“What?” Steve asks, voice coming out a little bit harsh. Danny rolls his eyes to the heavens as if he can’t believe how thick Steve can be. And with all the things that happened today seeing Danny like that makes him irritated. He crosses his hand over his chest defensively as he repeats his question.

_“What?”_

“What do you mean what?” Danny counters, hand swiping tiredly across his face. “What’s your problem? You’ve been wearing your Aneurism face on and off for the last couple of hours. Something’s up and I wanna know what.”

Steve can hear the determination lacing in Danny’s voice and knows that now is the time to come clean. Danny is looking at him with these big blue soulful eyes and it’s so wrong of him to look so damn worried at Steve. Doesn’t the man realize what an awful person Steve is? How can he act so worried about Steve when he is the reason Danny’s almost lost Grace. And all it takes is a soft touch to his wrist and a whispered “Steve” before the dam breaks and he pours out the entire story.

The fear and inadequacy he’s been feeling all day burst out in waves as he recounts everything that happened leading to the situation in the convenience store. He’s talking fast, maybe too fast for Danny to follow but he just wants to get his story out as soon as possible so that Danny can punch him in the face. And yell at him for being a lousy partner and an even lousier human being.

He’d completely understand it if Danny wants to transfer out of the team now that he’s found out that Steve is an unreliable son of a bitch. And even though his heart is breaking at the thought of never setting eyes on Danny or Grace again he knows that after this, things will never be the same again. He forcefully blinks away the tears pooling in his eyes. He blew it, he knows this and there’s no one to blame but him. He can’t even make himself look at Danny, too afraid of what he might find in his partner’s expression.

It’s quite a shock to feel soft hands brush against his cheeks; he’d expected a punch from Danny, anything really but not a caress. His shock only multiplies when his eyes finally connect with Danny and he sees the amusement instead of the hatred Steve had expected to see.

“I’m not mad at you Steve. It wasn’t your fault. You should be proud of yourself for stopping that robbery. You have no idea how proud I am right now. Grace told me about how you managed to talk that teenager down from his attempt and how she’s really glad that no one got hurt. You we-“

“Wait what?” Steve cuts in, his mind one chaotic jumble. “Wha.. I mean, what about Grace? How did, uh…Danno?”

He hates the way his voice breaks as he tries to understand what Danny is saying. He can feel himself getting agitated before Danny grips both of his arms and manhandle him toward Danny’s side of the couch. Danny’s warm hands were rubbing soothingly up and down his back as he lay almost on top of Danny, legs tangled up with each other.

“Grace told me about the teenager and his attempt to rob that convenience store. She wanted to alert you the moment she caught sight of the hidden gun but she didn’t want to alert that guy. She’d been deciding the best course of action to get her message across to you but then you’d already caught sight of the guy and his attempt, so she thought it would be better if she did nothing since it was clear to her that you had everything under control.”

“She knew the entire time?” Steve questioned disbelief thick in his voice.

“Off course she knew,” Danny scoffed. “She’s the daughter of a cop. I taught her to always be on the look out for anything suspicious.”

“God, Danno...” Steve breathed out, all the tension he’s been feeling draining away leaving him boneless. “You have no idea how scared I’d been. The thought that things would go totally wrong kept flashing through my mind. If anything happened to Grace I never would have forgiven myself.”

“Steve it’s okay.”

“No it’s not okay. Today was one of the most terrifying days of my life. These past couple of weeks I’ve been acting like a total coward and I’m done. I’m done feeling scared and being a coward. And I don’t want to waste any minute longer of my life lying to myself. I love you Danny Williams and I don’t care if you don’t feel the same but this day taught me that life’s too precious to waste in fear.”

Steve still has an entire speech planned out but it’s difficult getting the words out of his mouth as his partner keeps slanting his mouth over his. The kisses that silence him are hot and heavy, making Steve heady with lust.

“What took you so long, babe?” Danny asks before leaning back in for another kiss. This time the kiss is soft and slow and he can feel the love pouring out of Danny and into his heart and he knows that everything’s going to be okay.

Grace is safe and he has Danny. What more can he wish for?


End file.
